Leyte gov calls for sustainability as key to food security

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines  — The value of sustainability in food production must be embraced by the Leyteños, especially in the agricultural sector, after surviving Yolanda, according to Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla.

The governor issued this statement to the media, citing the rise of farmers associations from only two after Yolanda to the present 46 around the province and in Tacloban City barangays, through his “More Income in the Countryside (MIC)” project, which benefitted at least 3,000 member-farmers.

Petilla said the MIC project involves the use of compact farming for high value vegetables and fruit crops, as well as livestock production for a period of three years and beyond. Disaster risk reduction training was also among the inputs imparted to the farmers to deter loses during calamities, he said.

Petilla underscored once more the importance of having the right disposition and values towards sustainable livelihood through agriculture especially in the countryside to help even the poorest of the poor uplift their economic condition.

Food security will be achieved in Leyte province through positive outlook and determination among the farmers with the help of the provincial government and their respective farmer organizations, he said.

Petilla said these farmers’ groups are now supplying the fruit and vegetable requirements of big food chains in the country, which have branches in Eastern Visayas, through the Leyte Federation of High Value Crop Growers Association, formed only last January and is now an active partner of the provincial government.

The MIC project has focused on providing technology transfer trainings, technical assistance, and inputs such as quality vegetable seeds, garden tools, fertilizers and other farm needs, he said.

The Provincial Agriculture Office told The FREEMAN that vegetable farmers have been benefitting from their harvests and gradually restored their livelihood that was destroyed by Yolanda.

“The farmers’ determination and the kind of values they are upholding make them succeed,” Petilla said, adding that some member-farmers were once members of the New People’s Army and joined the government mainstream to begin earning P40,000 per month from their harvests.

Petilla said compact farming in the countryside also provided nutritious “high-end” food to the farm workers and their families. “They can now eat fruits and vegetables, which before only wealthy persons could afford because these were sold at high cost in supermarkets and restaurants,” he said. —  (FREEMAN)